“An Ontario Catholic youth camp that former hostage James Loney once worked for has been closed — apparently because of his sexual orientation.
“Loney, who spent four months in captivity in Iraq before being rescued in March, had kept his homosexuality secret from his abductors. He had feared that revealing his sexual orientation would have put his life in greater jeopardy.
“Upon returning to Canada, Loney introduced his partner Dan Hunt on national television.
“Days later, the chairperson of the Knights of Columbus Ontario State Council — which funds the camp — expressed concerns to the camp’s director that the event was promoting a homosexual lifestyle, making specific reference to Loney, the former hostage said in an interview yesterday.
“While Loney declined to discuss details, he is holding a news conference in Toronto today to address the situation.”
(Via J at CBCWatch)
Kelly,
Will you be taking your kids to Mardi Gras next year? My brother once saw a fellow Jesuit High alumnus do a hooker on a balcony in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras.
Show us your wits, Kelly!
Doogie,
I’m glad you’ve found happiness.
I’m little acquainted with pre-Vatican II Catholicism, either. However, my earliest memory is being a little boy at a Tridentine Mass. I sat next to my mother. She and all the other women wore veils and the priest faced away from the congregation. This was quite a memory since I must have been no more than three years old at the time. In the sleepy little town we lived in near the mouth of the Mississippi, the Mass was the high point of the week. Mass was only missed under dire circumstances; in fact, my mother was born on the way to Easter Mass.
This was during the civil rights era of the 1960’s, and our Archbishop Rummel risked his life by excommunicating the parish strongman Judge Leander Perez for trying to pass a law that would prevent Catholic schools from integrating their classrooms. Shortly thereafter, some supporter of the Judge firebombed my brother’s Catholic elementary school before it was to open as integrated.
Back then, there were many reasons to be proud of the Church.
One thing for sure, Doogie, is that we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. Not one of us can condemn a brother or sister or say that they are outside the love of God.
What we can say, and what I think you are saying in the choices that you have made, is that PRACTISING a homosexual lifestyle, not BEING a homosexual, is where the problem lies. For those of us who are Christians, there is a call to follow God’s way for us. Why? Because this Way is truth and light and because it leads to abundant life–not a life of disease and distress which, sadly, a gay lifestyle so frequently ends up being.
Check out the stats: There is a great deal of alcoholism, drug abuse, violence, and disease among proponents of the “gay lifestyle.” By attempting to live according to biblical standards–something heterosexuals also struggle to do every day–one has a far greater opportunity of living the “abundant life” instead of one wracked with worry, fear, and chronic health problems.
Jesus Loves me:
Well sweetheart, you say:
“Balboa park, the largest city park west of the Mississippi is in the middle of the city of San Diego. The city let the Boy Scouts lease several acres at the cost of $1 per year. The problem is that the BSA excludes gays and atheists. So why should the BSA expect a multimillion dollar subsidy partially funded by gays and atheists? If the BSA is a private organization, why can’t they use private land?”
The obvious and glaring difference is that in one story, the land is private (and thus the owner can do with it what they want) and in the other the land is public who should not discriminate against EITHER gays nor Christians. If the boy scouts want to have their camp on public land (who Christians also partially subsidize – and I’m willing to lay money on the fact that there are more Christians than Gays) one day and a gay group the next, neither should be blackballed for their policies or memberships. Every group should be entitled to use public land and no one should be excluded based on politics, identity or religion.
Public land is owned by everyone. If it’s going to be lent out, no group should be excluded and that includes Christian groups and Gay groups equally.
I bet that you wouldn’t have a problem with a women’s group that excludes men having the same land. It’s called hypocrisy. I doubt you’ll even address it. Lefties are very good at pretending uncomfortable truths don’t exist.
I love it when you equate denying someone the use of private land as a reason to deny someone else the use of public land because you disagree with them.
Apples and oranges… And you point is invalid in both cases!
For the record, as an Atheist Libertarian, I fully support SSM and gay rights without reservation. Unlike you I also support the rights of Christian groups to disagree and live their lives the way they see fit. That includes equal access to public property that everyone pays for – that’s if we have to have public property at all. Private property is private. If the owners of private property want to permanently exclude whomever they please from that property it’s none of my – or your- business. If you are excluded from private land you may at your leisure buy a different parcel of land and use it however you please.
Doogie:
No malicious intention to belittle. I was testing your statement on pure methodological fallacy premises, and thus I did not understand your example/statement.
It all boils down to can a person be homosexual if he has sex with another homosexual, or does homosexuality pre-empt any physical or primal urges and is a mental disposition?
Clearly I don’t know, and obviously I did not understand the logic of your statement based on rational models that are rigid as to premise based arguments.
I hope you understand that this makes me an “egghead” if anything, if I am to be labeled.
; )
Cheers M8!
Leto
‘Coward’ McGuinty honours ‘Fearless’ Loney at annual Pride gala.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2006/06/21/1644705-sun.html
Warwick,
There are more than differences between the two cases. In Looney’s case, he’s whining and making a clown of himself by putting himself in this position anyway.
In the case of Balboa park, the voters of the city that owns this property have elected a mayor and a city council that passed equal rights ordinances that cover religion and sexual orientation equally and forbid city property being used as an excluisive club. The problem is that the anti-gay side have tried to use the courts to ensure that they can subvert the will of the voters and the principle of equal protection under the law.
Next time you might try sticking to what I actually said and being less of a bitch, whether you’re male or female.
I came across this page and I’m struck with (for the most part) how little love either side shows for the other. Homos are bad….Conservatives are bad…Islamists are bad…
Come on… Read your Gospel. Jesus railed against the archetypal religion (Judaism)… Today you see fanatical elements in all religions. Mostly about the law. I see postings here where the ‘law’ or Church teaching is recited faithfully. The history of the Catholic church is one where when we want to enforce something, we make it a doctrine. It’s let’s keep ‘God in a box’ thinking.
God is love….for all…and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…but we are all saved!!!
The biggest sin is not to love and in some of these postings I’m not seeing a lot of love!!
Damien,
I disagree. Sure, there’s some nutbars out there, but in this whole discourse I’ve felt tremendously respected.
And I beg to differ on a few of your points: we are NOT all saved. And as far as God being put in a box: that’s precisely what he did to himself when he became incarnate as Jesus. He restricted himself for our benefit. He defined himself and gave himself boundaries, in that he respects our freedom.
What bugs me is when people try to take God out of his box only to put him in a tube or an envelope. God alone can define himself, and he already has – plus he does not change like societal trends do.
Jesus Loves Me,
If you read your original post, from 11:50 june 20, you’ll see what I was refuting.
I started my post as I did a reply to this:
“Warwick,
Right back at you, Sweetie.”
For the record I am a hetero male… not that there’s anything wrong with that.
And it sounded from your original post that you were arguing that religious people should have no use of public property unless they go against their religion and accept gays.